Although Al Nassr was only able to draw against Al Shorta (IRQ), the introduction of the qualified Saudi Pro League teams at the international stage was quite successful.
Speaking of the Riyadhi giants, the first blow for them came as early as before the start of the match as Ronaldo was missing due to a viral infection. Nevertheless, in-form right back and stand-in captain Sultan Al Ghannam put the visitors in front early, however, the Iraqi side quickly found an equaliser. At the start of the second half, the injury of Brozović made matters worse for Al Nassr, who failed to find a winning goal despite dominating the contest. Overall, a very frustrating evening and a 1-1 draw for the Saudi team, which turned out to be the last match of Luis Castro, who was dismissed a day later. The new head coach will be Stefano Pioli – we wish him good luck for this exciting new chapter of his managerial career in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia!
Amongst the Roshn Saudi League teams – unsurprisingly – Al Hilal was the most convincing, who sealed their match against Al Rayyan (QAT) in the first half, thanks to goals from Milinković-Savić and two of their new signings, namely Cancelo and Leonardo. Although Guedes pulled one back at the start of the second half, this turned out be a consolation only for the home team as the end result stayed 1-3 and the victory of the Blue Waves was never really in danger. Job done for Al Hilal, next stop: Saudi El Clasico!
Al Ahli was also victorious against Persepolis (IRN) with a narrow 1-0 victory thanks to the quick goal of in-form midfielder Franck Kessié. In fact, it could have been a much more relaxed evening for the Jeddah-based giants as they were awarded a penalty, however, the effort of Mahrez was saved in the 59th minute. Nevertheless, a victory is a victory and each of the Roshn Saudi League teams started their AFC Champions League Elite campaign unbeaten, with which we are satisfied.
In the AFC Champions League Two Al Khalidiyah (BAH) hosted Al Taawoun, which turned out to be a very entertaining fixture. Indeed, the home team could count themselves extremely unlucky to not get anything from this match as they were narrowly defeated by a 2-3 scoreline. The hero for Al Taawoun was the in-form Gambian international forward Musa Barrow, who opened the contest with a first minute goal and scored a brace. The end result: the visitors can take all three points home to Buraidah!
